Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
50 Times Product Packaging Was So Wrong It Had To Be Shamed In This Online Group
Interview With Expert
We live in an age of unparalleled convenience, where practically anything—food, makeup, clothes, or even the latest iPhone—can arrive at our doorstep in hours or a few short days.
As impressive as it is, this efficiency comes at a huge cost for the planet. Deliveries are often shipped in absurdly wasteful packaging: massive boxes stuffed with plastic wrap, layers of foam, and heaps of shredded paper for something as small as a pair of earrings. This practice has become so common that people online are now sharing photos of their over-packaged orders, exposing just how ridiculous it can get.
Below, we’ve rounded up some of the most egregious examples. Scroll down to see for yourself, and don’t miss our conversation with climate and environmental consultant Anna Bohushenko about the consequences of such excess.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
All Of This For One Purse. (Cat For Scale)
Featherytoad 5 days ago
Especially since the purse isn't going to shatter.
Load More Replies...
Janissary35680 5 days ago
Cat be like "The box is so-so but these bubbly things look interesting. What if I hook my claws into one?"
Tyranamar Suess 5 days ago
Now they use paper stuffing. I haven’t gotten one of these plastic things in a long time.
BrunoVI 5 days ago
Salps are the most fascinating creature you've never heard of. They may be the dominant form of animal life in the oceans, but they live where it's very hard to survey, and their populations explode and implode regularly. They are fantastically simple. And they look like this. (As whale food, their resemblance to floating plastic is very unfortunate.)
RELATED:
#2
Individually Wrapped Lemon Slices
#3
Since Oranges Don't Have A Natural Packaging
Bored Panda reached out to Anna Bohushenko, a climate and environmental consultant from Ukraine, for her expert insights on the issue of unnecessary packaging. “The use of single-use packaging, increased consumption on the go, and the growth of the e-commerce sector all contribute significantly to the increase in waste, leading to a social and environmental crisis,” Bohushenko says. “The unsustainable use of packaging materials also increases the demand for natural resources and plastic pollution.”
#4
Ordered 5 Nail Polishes From Amazon
Kabuki Kitsune 5 days ago
Different drop shipment locations. Basically, each one came from a different location, so they have to be packaged separately.
#5
This Box Was For One Little Ds Game
#6
Seen At Target - 2 Apple Slices X 6 Plastic Bags, In A Plastic Box
“Waste is everywhere,” says Bohushenko. “It gets stuck in fences, it is scattered on streets and along beaches and roadsides, and it pollutes waterways, oceans, soil and air. Humanity is estimated to generate about 2.24 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste annually, of which only 55% is disposed of in controlled and designated facilities.”
#7
Not Sure What The Point Of The Plastic Wrapping Is… What A Waste
#8
Included A Lipstick In A Target Pick-Up Order. They Said It Was Out Of Stock Locally, But They Could Mail Me One
#9
For Fuck's Sake
As Bohushenko explains, this could rise to 3.88 billion tonnes per year by 2050. “The waste sector is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss,” she says. “Around 931 million tonnes of food is thrown away each year, and it is expected that up to 37 million tonnes of plastic waste will end up in the ocean each year by 2040.”
“As a result of plastic pollution, most sea-birds are consuming plastics on a regular basis and a large majority are becoming sick. They are often injured and maimed by plastic trash, even if they don’t consume it.”
#10
This Tin Of Individually Wrapped Assorted Jelly Beans I Got As A Gift
#11
17-Inch Box For A 2-Inch Item, Including Whole Printed Spiel That It Was “Thoughtfully Packaged” To “Reduce Impact”
Kabuki Kitsune 5 days ago
They're not wrong. That's all cardboard and paper, so easily recyclable. As opposed to a ton of plastic, and foam that can't always be recycled.
#12
"Gift Of Nothing" Is The Gift Of Egregious Packaging
#13
Some Sort Of Chip My Coworker Received
#14
All This Plastic For A Single Cough Drop
#15
Wasteful Packaging Should Be A Crime. Credit: Gegloon On Reddit Via @get.waste.ed
Nils Skirnir 5 days ago
A lot of this is bc of the jerks who tamper with stuff or pilfer a product. Heck junkies we’re even grinding up lomotil and snorting it when it came in bottles
#16
47,785ml Of Packaging For 5.4ml Of Product. These Boxes All Came From The Same Warehouse Together
#17
Somehow Both Too Much And Not Enough
#18
Pure Absurdity
#19
Just Got A Pair Of Headphones, Why Is The Box So Big
Melody 5 days ago
Amazon employee here. Either the system thought the item was bigger for some reason (this happens sometimes and they tell us not to downsize the box, presumably because we’ll usually have already assembled the box before we realize it’s the wrong size and building another box when you can just use the one you already built is a waste of time) or they ran out of the appropriate box size.
#20
Got My Battery Today From Amazon. They Didn’t Even Add Bubble Wrap Or Craft Paper
#21
"Eco Friendly" Soft Toys All Individually Wrapped In Single Use Plastic
Kabuki Kitsune 5 days ago
The only thing that's "eco friendly" about the toy, is the label. Read the fine print "Printed on recycled paper."
#22
Pixy Stix
#23
Way Too Much Packaging For Some Batteries 🤦♂️
#24
The Forks At Buffalo Wild Wings
Robin Roper 5 days ago
COVID, a serous illness, has made some people crazy. I know a woman who didn't want a person to touch her credit card but was happy giving them cash and getting cash back.
#25
Forgot About This Gem...this Was 12 Years Ago But I Believe That Was About An 18-In Ruler And It Was Absolutely The Only Thing In That Box
#26
Two Sleeves Of Pills Came In The Box Of 10
#27
My Chef Saved $2.50/300 Units If They Come Individually Wrapped. So I Spent The First Hour Of My Shift Unwrapping Them
#28
The Box And What It Was Used For. Ordered From An Ink Supplier
#29
A Little Bottle And A Tiny Other Thing
Beth Wheeler 5 days ago
Why is the bottle just rolling around in the box with a bottle of pill?
#30
Christmas Present. A Box With Plastic Lid, Six Useless Cups, 6 Plastic Lids... All For 6 Little Sachets Of Hot Chocolate/Coffee
#31
This Is The Packaging For 8 Serving Utensils From Crate And Barrel. (Banana For Scale)
#32
A Fanny Pack
#33
A Specific Carton Just For A Single Egg
#34
A Presentation Case For A Single Tube Of Toothpaste. It’s Recyclable, Forgetting That They Could Just Not
#35
All For One Book
Huddo's sister 5 days ago
Most companies have cardboard sleeves for single books, this is stupid.
#36
Giant Box To Ship Five 4x6 Photos
#37
Nutrisystem Pizza
#38
Too Much Package For 3 ‘Gourmet’ Cookies. Found At Sams Club
#39
Hannaford Supermarket Hoping To Sell You *a* Donut
#40
Ordered 2 Knives From Crate And Barrel…
SkippityBoppityBoo 4 days ago
Okay... Think about how these knives have travelled to you. How many different ways they've travelled with all the banging around, the parcel probably being thrown onto a conveyor belt etc. This isn't "daftey packaging". It's safety for each and every person who has to handle that package because? THEY'RE KNIVES!!! 😄😄😄
#41
Was The Paper Seriously Supposed To Keep The Two Items From Moving Around In This Huge Box?
#42
The Tomato Aisle In My Local Grocery Store Made Me Sad
#43
Change Wiper Blades On Two Vehicles And Win This Pile Of Bs!
Did I say that out loud? (he/him)cis/het 5 days ago
Unfortunately, with wiper blades ,there's no standardised fitting across the car industry.
#45
Thanks Tesla! All This Packaging For A USB Drive
#46
Wait, Why Wrap Compostable Poo Bags In Plastic?
#47
All This Plastic For Just 5 Toothbrush Heads
#48
Why
Robin Roper 5 days ago
Could be the contents of the inner box is fragile. When packing fragile items, double boxes provide a lot of protection. This is fairly standard.
#49
Can't Be Too Careful!
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Rainbow Roger 5 days ago
do the original creators of the pics get a share of the revenue generated from premium subscriptions otherwise it's stealing and people can start a lawsuit
Bobby 4 days ago
Of course not. All of bps content is stolen btw. And the idiots paying for premium here is perpetuating more locked threads.
Load More Replies...
Janissary35680 5 days ago
After wading through all the comments to the 80 images (do I qualify for some kind of prize?), it looks like the "egregious" packaging is there for a valid reason in at least half the cases, possibly even more than half.
cugel. 4 days ago (edited)
It's likely there's a kind of standard package size, which at scale, has some advantages.
Load More Replies... Panda McPandaface 5 days ago
Three times with the Kinder Bueno? Yeah, we got it the first time thanks.
SkippityBoppityBoo 4 days ago
As a teenager I worked for a Computer supply company. We had standardised sizes of cardboard boxes but we packaged everything as securely as we could in paper packaging to prevent it from rattling around in the box and getting damaged. That company was ahead of its time because all packaging was cardboard and the internal packaging, such as Amazon uses now, was brown paper and could be recycled. I was taught all the health and safety regulations and exactly how to use to brown paper folding machine safely, where the kill switch was for it etc. I couldn't lift the huge rolls onto it to replace a roll because they're huge. A lot of companies are getting better with recyclable packaging but unfortunately there will still be packaging that can't be recycled depending upon what is being sent, used. My necessary medications packaging, which is plastic, cannot be recycled for example... Extra packaging with certain items such as knives is absolutely essential.
Lorraine Woollands 4 days ago
Want to know what I think Bored Panda, can you at least warn us that we can't read the full list unless we have your stupid Premium. It would save us wasting time reading half a story
Verena 5 days ago
Part is necessary to protect the product. But many could have easily bought local. Don't tell me all these people live on a remote island without shops or are sick/handicapped/whatever prevents them to go shopping.
Floeckchen 4 days ago
You know that most products also need to be transported to your local store?
Load More Replies...
David L 4 days ago
For those working in a warehouse posting out online purchases the packers aren't given the time to find an appropriately sized box.as they work in a timed role.
Sand Ers 2 days ago
Any facility that regimented will also prompt the packer for the correct box. If something is in a comically oversized box, it's because the correct one wasn't available.
Load More Replies... Kari Panda 5 days ago (edited)
My kid got gifted a doll‘s pram for Christmas and each single part to build it was individually wrapped - including each single screw. Wtf? (All the parts were together in a cardbox so there was no need for the exorbitant amount of additional wrapping. I understand wooden parts to keep them from getting chipped, but screws?)
Sand Ers 2 days ago
I can think of a few potential reasons for that, all of them having to do with steps long before the kit got aggregated into the box. Mostly handling issues because they get used in different quantities for different item.
Load More Replies... Sand Ers 2 days ago
And if you don't like the comments, don't read them...
Load More Replies...
Rainbow Roger 5 days ago
do the original creators of the pics get a share of the revenue generated from premium subscriptions otherwise it's stealing and people can start a lawsuit
Bobby 4 days ago
Of course not. All of bps content is stolen btw. And the idiots paying for premium here is perpetuating more locked threads.
Load More Replies... Janissary35680 5 days ago
After wading through all the comments to the 80 images (do I qualify for some kind of prize?), it looks like the "egregious" packaging is there for a valid reason in at least half the cases, possibly even more than half.
cugel. 4 days ago (edited)
It's likely there's a kind of standard package size, which at scale, has some advantages.
Load More Replies... Panda McPandaface 5 days ago
Three times with the Kinder Bueno? Yeah, we got it the first time thanks.
SkippityBoppityBoo 4 days ago
As a teenager I worked for a Computer supply company. We had standardised sizes of cardboard boxes but we packaged everything as securely as we could in paper packaging to prevent it from rattling around in the box and getting damaged. That company was ahead of its time because all packaging was cardboard and the internal packaging, such as Amazon uses now, was brown paper and could be recycled. I was taught all the health and safety regulations and exactly how to use to brown paper folding machine safely, where the kill switch was for it etc. I couldn't lift the huge rolls onto it to replace a roll because they're huge. A lot of companies are getting better with recyclable packaging but unfortunately there will still be packaging that can't be recycled depending upon what is being sent, used. My necessary medications packaging, which is plastic, cannot be recycled for example... Extra packaging with certain items such as knives is absolutely essential.
Lorraine Woollands 4 days ago
Want to know what I think Bored Panda, can you at least warn us that we can't read the full list unless we have your stupid Premium. It would save us wasting time reading half a story
Verena 5 days ago
Part is necessary to protect the product. But many could have easily bought local. Don't tell me all these people live on a remote island without shops or are sick/handicapped/whatever prevents them to go shopping.
Floeckchen 4 days ago
You know that most products also need to be transported to your local store?
Load More Replies... David L 4 days ago
For those working in a warehouse posting out online purchases the packers aren't given the time to find an appropriately sized box.as they work in a timed role.
Sand Ers 2 days ago
Any facility that regimented will also prompt the packer for the correct box. If something is in a comically oversized box, it's because the correct one wasn't available.
Load More Replies... Kari Panda 5 days ago (edited)
My kid got gifted a doll‘s pram for Christmas and each single part to build it was individually wrapped - including each single screw. Wtf? (All the parts were together in a cardbox so there was no need for the exorbitant amount of additional wrapping. I understand wooden parts to keep them from getting chipped, but screws?)
Sand Ers 2 days ago
I can think of a few potential reasons for that, all of them having to do with steps long before the kit got aggregated into the box. Mostly handling issues because they get used in different quantities for different item.
Load More Replies... Sand Ers 2 days ago
And if you don't like the comments, don't read them...
Load More Replies... 
Related on Bored Panda
